Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA Surf Dogs - String Bikini
 | Surf Dogs is/are what must be a home project of Roger Hope (Vancouver, BC). There are a couple of songs that could be turned into surf instros, but the vast majority of this is insulting to the genre, bearing no resemblance at all to the real thing. Stuff like this should carry warning labels! |
Picks: Catch A Wave, Spanish Fly, String Bikini, Moody Run, Bella Donna, Rock Hard, Let's Surf (With The Surfer Chicks), Shake, Loving You, Surf Cossacks, Latin Lover, Stoked
Track by Track Review
Catch A Wave
Rock (Instrumental)
Totally non-surf rock guitar plays against a totally non-surf backtrack. No real melody, just long guitar notes wanked via effects. Dreadful.
Rock (Instrumental)
"Spanish Fly" is an easy going modern Spanish styled song that's pretty and nicely played on guitar. Some delicate double picking.
String Bikini Rock (Instrumental)
This is a bluesy number with overuse of effects and not a drop of surf to be found. Pleasant, but entirely dismissible.
Moody Run Rock (Instrumental)
An aggressive pace does not make up for way too much track reverb. The melody is moderately interesting, and seems to flow alright. That said, if you never heard it, you would be no less for the loss.
Bella Donna
Rock (Instrumental)
Soft and slow, cheesy keys, and a light rhythm with goofy tweaks. The question is, why?
Rock Hard Rock (Instrumental)
As titles go, "Rock Hard" completely misleads. Wanky and jammy and without direction. Only the second guitar warrants any attention.
Let's Surf (With The Surfer Chicks)
Rock (Vocal)
"Let's Surf" - oh, let's not! Boy does this suck! The vocals are baby-voiced and as bad as the dumbest chick-surf song you can think of from the early sixties. I normally don't review vocals, but this is so bad, it requires a warning label. Pure, unadulterated mung.
Shake
Rock (Instrumental)
Another in the sequence of utterly dismissible tracks. Cheesy keys, modern wank guitar, dance-wannabe rhythms, and no direction.
Loving You
Rock (Instrumental)
Yikes, when "Sleep Walk" is ripped off this meaninglessly, it hurts. The Farina Brothers must be rolling in their graves.
Rock (Instrumental)
Slight Russian feeling - note I said slight. Double picked lines at times, and an almost surf feeling. "Surf Cossacks" approaches, but does not disturb, the "cool" waters.
Latin Lover Rock (Instrumental)
Oh jeez - goofy sequenced treatments and a soft rock melody, which is actually very good, but wasted in this lame arrangement. Easy listening for computer geeks gone awry.
Near Surf (Instrumental)
"Stoked" sports a surfable melody line and pace, but is utterly minimized by the cheesy backtrack and slushy production. Too bad, because there are some cool surf licks.